Sheet Pan Pork Chop Dinner — Nom Nom Paleo — A Review (Whole 30)

One of the hardest parts of doing my 1st Whole 30 was not having access to my big white binder of recipes for one or two or my regular cookbooks and recipe blogs for inspiration.  Towards the end of my Whole 30 I started to run out of new compliant recipes to try and food boredom started setting in.  Food boredom is deadly for someone who likes to cook and eat as much as I do.  When I decided to do a second round of Whole 30, I decided to have a list of Whole 30/Paleo blogs to explore in front of my little black binder of Whole 30 recipes binder.

One of the first Whole 30/Paleo blogs that I found that I really liked was Michelle Tam and Henry Fong’s Nom Nom Paleo.   How do I love this blog?  Let me count the ways.

1.  60 days of Whole 30 compliant recipes all gathered in one place for you.  The recipes cover everything from spice blends, to sauces, to main meals of every kind.
2. The recipes are for food I want to eat.   I don’t have time or money for recipes that take all day  to cook and have a lot of expensive hard to find ingredients. Neither does Michelle. With the exception of her Insta-Pot and Sous Vide machine she doesn’t use fancy equipment.  Most of the ingredients for her recipes can be found in any grocery store.
3. Whole 30 Insta-Pot recipes.  You all know how I love my pressure cooker.  It was nice to know that with all the changes I made in my diet for my Whole 30, somethings could remain the same.
4. Michelle’s food just tastes good.
5. Michelle’s recipes are always reliable and turn out well, if you follow her instructions.
6. I love Michelle and Henry’s podcast.
7. I love Michelle and Henry’s sense of humor.

In the almost three months since I finished my Whole 30 I still have one or two Nom Nom Paleo recipes on my menu plan each week.  I have bought their cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo Food For Humans and pre ordered their new cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo Ready or Not, that comes out August 1 .  They will be in constant use in my house, whether or not I am on a Whole 30 or decide to go Paleo after my next Whole 30 in September.

One Pan Pork Chop Dinner

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

adapted from Michelle Tam an Henry Fong’s One and Done Ebook

11/2 TBS olive oil

juice of half  a lemon

1 TBS chopped fresh sage

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp kosher salt

2 bone in pork chops, 1 inch thick about 1 pound total

1 fuji apple, cored and cut into 8 wedges

1/2 lb brussels sprouts, halved or quartered

1/4 large red onion, peeled and cut into 6 wedges through the poles

ground black pepper

Aged balsamic vinegar

Preheat te oven to 450 degrees.  In a bowl, combine 1 1/2  teaspoons olive oil, lemon juice, sage, garlic and 3/4 tsp salt,  mix well.  Cover the pork chops with this mixture.  On a rimmed baking sheet, place the pork chops on the pan.  Toss the apple wedges, brusslls sprouts, and onion with the remaining 1 1/2  teaspoon olive oil and 1/4 tsp salt.  Spread the vegetables in a single layer around the pork chops.  Roast for 12 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork registers 140 degrees.  Turn the heat to broil and cook an additional  3-5 minutes or until the pork and veggies are browned.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve.

A Small Batch Thanksgiving — Balsamic Honey Brussels Sprouts

Today has been a rough day.  It started with a trip to the vet with my beautiful Budgie, Annie, to confirm what I already suspected.  My Budgie boy has  fatty liver disease.  Annie’s liver cells are slowly, thank God, being replaced by fat cells which will eventually cause liver failure.  There is no way to stop it or treatment to slow it down.  All I can do is make sure to trim Annie’s beak when it over grows ( a symptom of fatty liver disease is an over grown beak.  Healthy parrots never need their beaks trimmed), so he can continue to eat and make him as comfortable as possible when the end comes. Right now you couldn’t tell Annie is sick, he is eating and squabbling with his cage mates and doing what happy Budgies do.  So I am going to keep on caring for him and loving him just like I always have.

It’s always hard for me to mentally deal with a sick animal.  I always feel like it’s my fault they are sick.  I could have done something to prevent their illness.  In my head, I know that isn’t true but it takes longer to convince my heart that there is absolutely nothing I could have done to prevent Annie from getting fatty liver disease.

So after getting home from the vet I sat with Annie for awhile and gave him a special treat then I went to kitchen and started cooking and baking. I don’t know why but the kitchen is my happy place. When I am there nothing seems too overwhelming or out of reach. The kitchen is the only place I have total control. I made a batch of birdie bread for the birds, gerbils and rats and a wonderful dinner for me. The dinner included these wonderful roasted Brussels sprouts. I am going to include them is my Thanksgiving dinner. I didn’t have balsamic vinegar so I substituted apple cider vinegar. You could substitute any vinegar for it, except maybe, distilled white vinegar.

Balsamic Honey Brussels Sprouts

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

3/4 – 1 lb Brussels sprouts

1 1/2 TBS olive oil,

1/2  tsp kosher salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 TBS balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Trim off the outer, dry leaves, cut the bottom off and slice sprouts lengthwise.  In a large bowl, toss Brussels sprouts with  1 tablespoon olive oil, kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to coat thoroughly.  Transfer the Brussels sprouts to baking sheet and roast until tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes.  Place Brussels sprouts back in bowl. Add remaining 1/2  tablespoon olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey and toss to coat evenly. Taste and season with kosher salt if necessary and serve.